Search Worlds Without End

What are you looking for? So asks Tokyo's most enigmatic librarian. For Sayuri Komachi is able to sense exactly what each visitor to her library is searching for and provide just the book recommendation to help them find it.

A restless retail assistant looks to gain new skills, a mother tries to overcome demotion at work after maternity leave, a conscientious accountant yearns to open an antique store, a recently retired salaryman searches for newfound purpose.

In Komachi's unique book recommendations they will find just what they need to achieve their dreams.

Welcome to the Library of Lost Things, where the shelves are stuffed with books that have fallen through the cracks--from volumes of lovelorn teenage poetry to famous works of literature long destroyed or lost. They're all here, pulled from history and watched over by the Librarian, curated by the Collectors, nibbled on by the rats. Filed away, never to be read. At least, until Thomas, the boy with the secret, comes to the Library.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

This short story originally appeared in Omni, February 1987, and was reprinted on Strange Horizons, 30 April 2001. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Fantasy: First Annual Collection (1988), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, and Omni Visions Two (1994), edited by Ellen Datlow. The story is included in the collections The Start of the End of It All and Other Stories (1990) and The Collected Stories of Carol Emshwiller Vol. 1 (2012).

Read the full story for free at Strange Horizons.

In post-World War I England, a young woman inherits a mysterious library and must untangle its powerful secrets...

With the stroke of a pen, twenty-three-year-old Ivy Radcliffe becomes Lady Hayworth, owner of a sprawling estate on the Yorkshire moors. Ivy has never heard of Blackwood Abbey, or of the ancient bloodline from which she's descended. With nothing to keep her in London since losing her brother in the Great War, she warily makes her way to her new home.

The abbey is foreboding, the servants reserved and suspicious. But there is a treasure waiting behind locked doors: a magnificent library. Despite cryptic warnings from the staff, Ivy feels irresistibly drawn to its dusty shelves, where familiar works mingle with strange, esoteric texts. And she senses something else in the library too, a presence that seems to have a will of its own.

Rumors swirl in the village about the abbey's previous owners, about ghosts and curses, and an enigmatic manuscript at the center of it all. And as events grow more sinister, it will be up to Ivy to uncover the library's mysteries in order to reclaim her own story - before it vanishes forever.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist, she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

A missing God. A library with the secrets to the universe. A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.

Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts.

After all, she was a normal American herself once.

That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father.

In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.

Now, Father is missing--perhaps even dead--and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation.

As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own.

But Carolyn has accounted for this.

And Carolyn has a plan.

The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human.

Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling--and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy.

A girl and a god, alone in communion...

In the winding underground tunnels of the Library, the great peacekeeper of the three systems, a heinous secret lies buried - and Freida is the only one who can uncover it. As the daughter of a Library god, Freida has spent her whole life exploring the Library's ever-changing tunnels and communing with the gods. Her unparalleled access makes her unique - and dangerous.

When Freida meets Joshua, a Tierran boy desperate to save his people, and Nergüi, a disciple from a persecuted religious minority, Freida is compelled to help them. But in order to do so, she will have to venture deeper into the Library than she has ever known. There she will discover the atrocities of the past, the truth of her origins, and the impossibility of her future.

With the world at the brink of war, Freida embarks on a journey to fulfill her destiny, one that pits her against an ancient war god. Her mission is straightforward: Destroy the god before he can rain hellfire upon thousands of innocent lives - if he doesn't destroy her first.

The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously powerful: the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers.

Hellebore promises redemption, acceptance, and a normal life after graduation. At least, that's what Alessa Li is told after she's kidnapped and forcibly enrolled.

But the Institute is more than just a haven for monsters. On graduation day, the faculty embark on a ravenous rampage, feasting on their students. Trapped in the school's cavernous library, Alessa and her surviving classmates must do something they were never taught: work together.

If they don't, this school will eat them alive...

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Is Anybody Out There? (2010), edited by Nick Gevers and Marty Halpern. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 16 (2011), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer.

Read the full story for free on Halpern's blog.

A lonely boy, a mysterious girl, and a tormented sheep man plot their escape from the nightmarish library of internationally acclaimed, best-selling Haruki Murakami's wild imagination.

More than a hundred years from now, an arborist fighting to save the last remaining forest on Earth discovers a secret about the trees - one that changes not only her life, but also the fate of our world.

Read the full story for free at Tor Reactor.

A librarian with a knack for solving murders realizes there is something decidedly supernatural afoot in her little town in this cozy fantasy mystery.

Librarian Sherry Pinkwhistle keeps finding bodies - and solving murders. But she's concerned by just how many killers she's had to track down in her quaint village. None of her neighbors seem surprised by the rising body count... but Sherry is becoming convinced that whatever has been causing these deaths is unnatural.

When someone close to Sherry ends up dead, and her cat, Lord Thomas Crowell, becomes possessed by what seems to be an ancient demon, Sherry begins to think she's going to need to become an exorcist as well as an amateur sleuth. With the help of her town's new priest, and an assortment of friends who dub themselves the "Demon-Hunting Society," Sherry will have to solve the murder and get rid of a demon.

A cycle of six thematically linked stories, droll renditions of the nightmares ensuing upon misplaced, or (of course) excessive, bibliophilia. A writer encounters a website where all his possible future books are on display; a lonely man faces an infinite flow of hardback books through his mailbox; an ordinary library turns by night into an archive of souls; the Devil sets about raising standards of infernal literacy; one book houses all books; a connoisseur of hardcovers strives to expel a lone paperback from his collection. Winner of the 2003 World Fantasy Award Longlisted for 2004 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

WHEN GHOSTS TALK

SHE WILL LISTEN

Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker - and they sure do love to talk. Now she speaks to Edinburgh's dead, carrying messages to those they left behind. A girl's gotta earn a living, and it seems harmless enough. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone's bewitching children - leaving them husks, empty of joy and strength. It's on Ropa's patch, so she feels honor-bound to investigate. But what she learns will rock her world.

Ropa will dice with death as she calls on Zimbabwean magic and Scottish pragmatism to hunt down clues. And although underground Edinburgh hides a wealth of dark secrets, she also discovers an occult library, a magical mentor and some unexpected allies.

Yet as shadows lengthen, will the hunter become the hunted?

The Lost Library of Cormanthyr

Is it just a myth? Or does it still stand... somewhere in the most ancient corners of Faerûn?

An intrepid human explorer sets out to find the truth and what starts as an archaeological expedition soon becomes a race against time as an undying avenger is determined to protect the secrets of the ancient, xenophobic elven empire of Cormanthyr.

Lost Empires is a bold new series that uncovers the secrets of the lost, ancient Forgotten Realmsworld.

Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing-- a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.

But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil's Bible. The text of the Devil's Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell.... and Earth.

In a city dissolving into an infected sprawl of ideas, where words come to life and reality is contaminated by stories, John Nyquist wakes up in a room with a dead body... The dead man's impossible whispers plunge him into a murder investigation like no other. Clues point him deeper into an unfolding story infesting its participants as reality blurs between place and genre.

Only one man can hope to put it all back together into some kind of order, enough that lives can be saved... That man is Nyquist, and he is lost.

Helia has served as the Sage of Hope for the Great Library of Tomorrow for centuries. She is one of the chosen few who embody and protect the values of humanity across the numerous realms of Paperworld, which are connected within the Library itself via magical portals controlled by the Book of Wisdom.

But even her hope is tested when she and her partner, Xavier, the Sage of Truth, are attacked while visiting the famous Rose Garden in the realm of Silvyra. Wounded and in shock amid a storm of fire, they are confronted by a deadly figure known to them as the Ash Man. With the Garden destroyed and its dragon protector missing, Xavier sacrifices his life so that Helia can return home to warn the other Sages.

But there she finds the Book of Wisdom - always a guide to the Sages - eerily silent. With the Ash Man gaining strength, Helia soon finds herself in a race against time, searching for clues to the origins of their foe - and any possible way to defeat him.

Nanami sees nothing wrong with a library and cat combination. But a talking cat is a whole other story.

Thirteen-year-old Nanami Kosaki loves reading. The local library is a home from home and books have become her best friends. When Nanami notices books disappearing from the library shelves, she's particularly curious about a suspicious man in a grey suit whose furtive behaviour doesn't feel right. Should she follow him to see what he's up to?

When a talking tabby cat called Tiger appears to warn her about how dangerous that would be, together they're brave enough to follow the frightening trail to find out where all the books have gone. Will Nanami and Tiger overcome the challenges of the adventure ahead?

Victorian London is a place of fluid social roles, vibrant arts culture, fin-de-siècle wonders... and dangerous underground diabolic cults. Fencer Evadne Gray cares for none of the former and knows nothing of the latter when she's sent to London to chaperone her younger sister, aspiring art critic Dorina.

At loose ends after Dorina becomes enamored with their uncle's friend, Lady Henrietta "Henry" Wotton, a local aristocrat and aesthete, Evadne enrolls in a fencing school. There, she meets George Cantrell, an experienced fencing master like she's always dreamed of studying under. But soon, George shows her something more than fancy footwork--he reveals to Evadne a secret, hidden world of devilish demons and their obedient servants. George has dedicated himself to eradicating demons and diabolists alike, and now he needs Evadne's help. But as she learns more, Evadne begins to believe that Lady Henry might actually be a diabolist... and even worse, she suspects Dorina might have become one too.

Combining swordplay, the supernatural, and Victorian high society, Creatures of Will and Temper reveals a familiar but strange London in a riff on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray that readers won't soon forget.

Amityville baywoman Ellie West fishes by day and bootlegs moonshine by night. It's dangerous work under Prohibition--independent operators like her are despised by federal agents and mobsters alike--but Ellie's brother was accepted to college and Ellie's desperate to see him go. So desperate that when wealthy strangers ask her to procure libations for an extravagant party Ellie sells them everything she has, including some booze she acquired under unusual circumstances.

What Ellie doesn't know is that this booze is special. Distilled from foul mushrooms by a cult of diabolists, those who drink it see terrible things--like the destruction of Long Island in fire and flood. The cult is masquerading as a church promising salvation through temperance and a return to "the good old days," so it's hard for Ellie to take a stand against them, especially when her father joins, but Ellie loves Long Island, and she loves her family, and she'll do whatever it takes to ensure neither is torn apart.

In the waning days of World War II, with Allied victory all but certain, desperate Nazi diabolists search for a demonic superweapon to turn the tide. A secluded castle somewhere in the south of Germany serves as a laboratory for experiments conducted upon human prisoners, experiments as vile as they are deadly.

Across the English Channel, tucked into the sleepy Cumbrian countryside, lies the Library, the repository of occult knowledge for the Société des Éclairées, an international organization of diabolists. There, best friends Jane Blackwood and Miriam Cantor, tutored by the Société's Librarian--and Jane's mother--Nancy, prepare to undergo the Test that will determine their future as diabolists.

When Miriam learns her missing parents are suspected of betraying the Société to the Nazis, she embarks on a quest to clear their names, a quest involving dangerous diabolic practices that will demand more of her than she can imagine. Meanwhile Jane, struggling with dark obsessions of her own, embraces a forbidden use of the Art that could put everyone she loves in danger.

As their friendship buckles under the stress of too many secrets, Jane and Miriam will come face to face with unexpected truths that change everything they know about the war, the world, and most of all themselves. After all, some choices cannot be unmade--and a sacrifice made with the most noble intention might end up creating a monster.

Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time....

Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly--but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.

Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family's spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library's service.

When he inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life--and soon both heretics and books will burn....

With an iron fist, The Great Library controls the knowledge of the world, ruthlessly stamping out all rebellion, forbidding the personal ownership of books in the name of the greater good.

Jess Brightwell has survived his introduction to the sinister, seductive world of the Library, but serving in its army is nothing like he envisioned. His life and the lives of those he cares for have been altered forever. His best friend is lost, and Morgan, the girl he loves, is locked away in the Iron Tower and doomed to a life apart.

Embarking on a mission to save one of their own, Jess and his band of allies make one wrong move and suddenly find themselves hunted by the Library's deadly automata and forced to flee Alexandria, all the way to London.

But Jess's home isn't safe anymore. The Welsh army is coming, London is burning, and soon, Jess must choose between his friends, his family, or the Library willing to sacrifice anything and anyone in the search for ultimate control...

The unforgettable characters from Ink and Bone and Paper and Fire unite to save the Great Library of Alexandria from itself in this electrifying adventure in the New York Times bestselling series.

Hoarding all the knowledge of the world, the Great Library jealously guards its secrets. But now a group of rebels poses a dangerous threat to its tyranny....

Jess Brightwell and his band of exiles have fled London, only to find themselves imprisoned in Philadelphia, a city led by those who would rather burn books than submit. But Jess and his friends have a bargaining chip: the knowledge to build a machine that will break the Library's rule.

Their time is running out. To survive, they'll have to choose to live or die as one, to take the fight to their enemies--and to save the very soul of the Great Library....

To save the Great Library, the unforgettable characters from Ink and Bone, Paper and Fire, andAsh and Quill put themselves in danger in the next thrilling adventure in the New York Times bestselling series.

The opening moves of a deadly game have begun. Jess Brightwell has put himself in direct peril, with only his wits and skill to aid him in a game of cat and mouse with the Archivist Magister of the Great Library. With the world catching fire, and words printed on paper the spark that lights rebellion, it falls to smugglers, thieves, and scholars to save a library thousands of years in the making... if they can stay alive long enough to outwit their enemies.

With the future of the Great Library in doubt, the unforgettable characters from Ink and Bonemust decide if it's worth saving in this thrilling adventure in the New York Times bestselling series.

The corrupt leadership of the Great Library has fallen. But with the Archivist plotting his return to power, and the Library under siege from outside empires and kingdoms, its future is uncertain. Jess Brightwell and his friends must come together as never before, to forge a new future for the Great Library... or see everything it stood for crumble.

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant Kai, she's posted to an alternative London. Their mission -- to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book.

Adding to the jeopardy, this world is chaos-infested -- the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic. Irene's new assistant is also hiding secrets of his own.

Soon, she's up to her eyebrows in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies. Yet failure is not an option -- the nature of reality itself is at stake.

Librarian-spy Irene is working undercover in an alternative London when her assistant, Kai, goes missing. She discovers he's been kidnapped by the fae faction, and the repercussions could be fatal -- not just for Kai, but for whole worlds.

Kai's dragon heritage means he has powerful allies but also powerful enemies in the form of the fae. With this act of aggression, the fae are determined to trigger a war between their people -- and the forces of order and chaos themselves.

Irene's mission to save Kai and avert Armageddon will take her to a dark, alternate Venice where it's always Carnival. Here Irene will be forced to blackmail, fast talk, and fight. Or face death.

Never judge a book by its cover...

Due to her involvement in an unfortunate set of mishaps between the dragons and the Fae, Librarian spy Irene is stuck on probation, doing what should be simple fetch-and-retrieve projects for the mysterious Library. But trouble has a tendency of finding both Irene and her apprentice, Kai -- a dragon prince -- and, before they know it, they are entangled in more danger than they can handle...

Irene's longtime nemesis, Alberich, has once again been making waves across multiple worlds, and, this time, his goals are much larger than obtaining a single book or wreaking vengeance upon a single Librarian. He aims to destroy the entire Library--and make sure Irene goes down with it.

With so much at stake, Irene will need every tool at her disposal to stay alive. But even as she draws her allies close around her, the greatest danger might be lurking from somewhere close -- someone she never expected to betray her...

A covert mission. A royal demand. And a race against time.

In a 1930s-esque Chicago, Prohibition is in force, fedoras, flapper dresses and tommy guns are in fashion, and intrigue is afoot. Intrepid Librarians Irene and Kai find themselves caught in the middle of a dragon vs dragon contest. It seems a young librarian has become tangled in this conflict, and if they can't extricate him, there could be serious political repercussions for the mysterious Library. And, as the balance of power across mighty factions hangs in the balance, this could even trigger war.

Irene and Kai find themselves trapped in a race against time (and dragons) to procure a rare book. They'll face gangsters, blackmail and fiendish security systems. And if this doesn't end well, it could have dire consequences for Irene's job. And, incidentally, for her life...

A corrupt countess.
A spy in danger.
And an assassin at large.

Peace talks are always tricky... especially when a key diplomat gets stabbed. This murder rudely interrupts a top-secret summit between the warring dragons and Fae, so Librarian-spy Irene is summoned to investigate. In a version of 1890s Paris, Irene and her detective friend Vale must track down the killer - before either the peace negotiations or the city go up in flames.

Accusations fly thick and fast. Irene soon finds herself in the seedy depths of the Parisian underworld on the trail of a notoriously warlike Fae, the Blood Countess. However, the evidence against the Countess is circumstantial. Could the assassin - or assassins - be closer than anyone suspects?

A Librarian spy's work is never done, and after their latest adventure, Irene is summoned back to the Library. The world where she grew up is in danger of veering into chaos - so she needs to obtain a particular book to stop this happening. And the only copy of the edition they need is in the hands of a notorious Fae broker and trader in rare objects: Mr Nemo.

Irene and Kai make their way to Mr Nemo's remote Caribbean island, and are invited to dinner - which includes unlikely company. And Mr Nemo has an offer for everyone there. He wants them to form a team to steal a specific painting from a specific world. And he swears that that he will give Irene the book she seeks, if she joins them - but only if he has the painting within the week.

No one can resist the deal he offers. But to get their rewards, they'll have to work together. And is this really possible when the team includes a dragon techie plus assorted fae - filling the roles of gambler, driver and 'the muscle'? Their goal? A specific Museum in Vienna, in an early twenty-first-century world. Here, their toughest challenge might be each other.

A mysterious archive. A powerful enemy. And a cunning plan.

Danger is part of the day job for a Librarian spy. So Irene's hoping for a relaxing weekend. However, her jaunt to Guernsey proves no such thing. Instead of retrieving a rare book, she's almost assassinated, Kai is poisoned and Vale barely escapes with his life. Then the attacks continue in London – targeting those connected with the Fae-dragon peace treaty.

Irene knows she must stop the plot before the treaty fails. Or someone dies. But when Irene and friends are trapped underground, in a secret archive, things don't look so good. Then an old enemy demands vengeance, and a shocking secret is revealed. Can Irene really seize victory from chaos?

Irene is trying to learn the truth about Alberich-and the possibility that he's her father. But when the Library orders her to kill him, and then Alberich himself offers to sign a truce, she has to discover why he originally betrayed the Library.

With her allies endangered and her strongest loyalties under threat, she'll have to trace his past across multiple worlds and into the depths of mythology and folklore, to find the truth at the heart of the Library, and why the Library was first created.

The boy has lived his whole life trapped within a book-choked chamber older than empires and larger than cities.

The girl has spent hers in a tiny settlement out on the Dust, where nightmares stalk and no one goes.

The world has never even noticed them. That's about to change.

Their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another. A journey on which knowledge erodes certainty and on which, though the pen may be mightier than the sword, blood will be spilled and cities burned.

The Library spans worlds and times. It touches and joins distant places. It is memory and future. And amid its vastness Evar Eventari both found, and lost, Livira Page.

Evar has been forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover the book she wrote--one which is the only true threat to the library's existence--if she's to return to her life.

While Evar's journey leads him outside into a world he's never seen, Livira's path will taker her deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written.

The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The time has come when they must fight for what they believe, or lose everything.

The fate of an infinite library hangs on one book, a book that holds the power to break the unbreakable. In the face of such forces, fragile things like hearts, worlds, and even family seem certain to fail.

The people most vital to Livira are scattered across time and space--lost, divided into factions, in mortal peril. Somehow she must bring them together and resolve the unresolvable argument that fuels the library's war.

The bond between Livira and Evar has stretched and stretched again. Can it hold at the end, when things fall apart? Can it unite them against impossible odds?

This is the last chapter, the final page. The end threatens and no one--not characters, readers, or even the author--will emerge unscathed.

Some things aren't supposed to exist outside of our imagination.

Thirteen years ago, monsters emerged from the shadows and plunged Kierse's world into a cataclysmic war of near-total destruction. The New York City she knew so well collapsed practically overnight.

In the wake of that carnage, the Monster Treaty was created. A truce... of sorts.

But tonight, Kierse - a gifted and fearless thief - will break that treaty. She'll enter the Holly Library... not knowing it's the home of a monster.

He's charming. Quietly alluring. Terrifying. But he knows talent when he sees it; it's just a matter of finding her price.

Now she's locked into a dangerous bargain with a creature unlike any other. She'll sacrifice her freedom. She'll offer her skills. Together, they'll put their own futures at risk. But he's been playing a game across centuries - and once she joins in, there will be no escape...

Collected in this volume, lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist Gary Gianni, are all of the stories and poems that make up the thrilling saga of the dour and deadly Puritan, Solomon Kane. Together they constitute a sprawling epic of weird fantasy adventure that stretches from sixteenth-century England to remote African jungles where no white man has set foot. Here are shudder-inducing tales of vengeful ghosts and bloodthirsty demons, of dark sorceries wielded by evil men and women, all opposed by a grim avenger armed with a fanatic's faith and a warrior's savage heart.

Table of Contents:

• The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane - (1998) - interior artwork by Gary Gianni
• A1 - A Short Biography of Robert E. Howard - (1998) - essay by Rusty Burke
• A15 - Gary Gianni - essay by uncredite
• A17 - Notes on the Original Howard Text (The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane) - essay by uncredited
• i - Foreword (The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane) - (1998) - essay by Gary Gianni
• iii - In Memoriam: Robert Ervin Howard - (1936) - essay by H. P. Lovecraft
• 1 - Skulls in the Stars - [Solomon Kane] - (1929) - short story
• 19 - The Right Hand of Doom - [Solomon Kane] - (1968) - short story
• 29 - Red Shadows - [Solomon Kane] - (1928) - novelette
• 73 - Rattle of Bones - [Solomon Kane] - (1929) - short story
• 85 - The Castle of the Devil - [Solomon Kane] - (1968) - short story
• 93 - Death's Black Riders - [Solomon Kane] - (1968) - short story
• 97 - The Moon of Skulls - [Solomon Kane] - (1930) - novella
• 171 - The One Black Stain - [Solomon Kane] - (1962) - poem
• 177 - The Blue Flame of Vengeance - [Solomon Kane] - (1968) - noveletted (variant of Blades of the Brotherhood)
• 223 - The Hills of the Dead - [Solomon Kane] - (1930) - novelette
• 254 - Hawk of Basti - [Solomon Kane] - (1968) - short story
• 269 - The Return of Sir Richard Grenville - [Solomon Kane] - (1968) - poem
• 273 - Wings in the Night - [Solomon Kane] - (1932) - novelette
• 323 - The Footfalls Within - [Solomon Kane] - (1931) - short story
• 347 - The Children of Asshur - [Solomon Kane] - (1968) - novelette
• 379 - Solomon Kane's Homecoming - [Solomon Kane] - (1936) - poem
• 385 - Solomon Kane's Homecoming (Variant) - [Solomon Kane] - (1971) - poem

The Ultimate Triumph combines the legendary talents of Robert E. Howard, widely regarded as the master of the adventure tale, and Frank Frazetta, the iconic master of fantasy art. This unique volume compiles seven stories and five poems showcasing some of Howard's best works featuring barbarian characters.

Table of Contents:

• The Ultimate Triumph: The Heroic Fantasy of Robert E Howard - interior artwork by Frank Frazetta
• A1 - Barbarism vs. Civilization: Robert E. Howard's Letters to H. P. Lovecraft - essay by uncredited
• A1 - Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa August 9, 1932 (excerpt) - essay
• A2 - Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa Setember-October, 1932 (excerpt) - essay
• A3 - Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa November 2, 1932 (excerpt) - essay
• A4 - Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa December, 1932 (excerpt) - essay
• A5 - Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa March 6, 1932 (excerpt) - essay
• A7 - Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa May-June, 1933 (excerpt) - essay
• A9 - Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa September 1933 (excerpt) - essay
• A13 - Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa January 1934 (excerpt) - essay by Robert E. Lumpkin
• A15 - Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa July 1934 (excerpt) - essay by Robert E. Lumpkin
• A16 - Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa December 1934 (excerpt) - essay
• A17 - Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, circa July 25, 1935 (excerpt) - essay
• A18 - Chronology - essay by uncredited
• A30 - Waiting for the Barbarians - essay by Patrice Louinet
• A48 - Frazetta and Robert E. Howard: The Power of Passion - essay by Dr. David Winiewicz
• A53 - Notes on the Original Text - essay by uncredited
• i - Foreword (The Ultimate Triumph: The Heroic Fantasy of Robert E. Howard) - essay by Frank Frazetta
• iii - Introduction (The Ultimate Triumph: The Heroic Fantasy of Robert E. Howard) - essay by Rusty Burke
• 1 - Beyond the Black River - [Conan] - (1935) - novella
• 67 - The House of Arabu - (1952) - novelette (variant of The Witch from Hell's Kitchen)
• 95 - Spears of Clontarf - non-genre - [Turlogh O'Brien] - (1978) - novelette
• 135 - Lord of Samarcand - non-genre - (1932) - novelette
• 181 - The Night of the Wolf - [Cormac Mac Art] - (1969) - novelette
• 211 - Spear and Fang - (1925) - short story
• 223 - The Valley of the Worm - [James Allison] - (1934) - novelette
• 249 - A Word from the Outer Dark - (1974) - poem
• 250 - A Song of the Naked Lands - (1973) - poem
• 254 - An Echo from the Iron Harp - (1974) - poem
• 258 - Viking's Trail - (1975) - poem
• 259 - The Song of the Last Briton - (1982) - poem

From Robert E. Howard's fertile imagination sprang some of fiction's greatest heroes, including Conan the Cimmerian, King Kull, and Solomon Kane. But of all Howard's characters, none embodied his creator's brooding temperament more than Bran Mak Morn, the last king of a doomed race.

In ages past, the Picts ruled all of Europe. But the descendants of those proud conquerors have sunk into barbarism... all save one, Bran Mak Morn, whose bloodline remains unbroken. Threatened by the Celts and the Romans, the Pictish tribes rally under his banner to fight for their very survival, while Bran fights to restore the glory of his race.

Lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist Gary Gianni, this collection gathers together all of Howard's published stories and poems featuring Bran Mak Morn--including the eerie masterpiece "Worms of the Earth" and "Kings of the Night". in which sorcery summons Kull the conqueror from out of the depths of time to stand with Bran against the Roman invaders.

Also included are previously unpublished stories and fragments, reproductions of manuscripts bearing Howard's handwritten revisions, and much, much more.

Table of Contents:

• A39 - Notes on the Original Howard Texts (Bran Mak Morn: The Last King) - essay by uncredited
• A1 - Robert E. Howard and the Picts: A Chronology - essay by uncredited
• A21 - Robert E. Howard, Bran Mak Morn and the Picts - essay by Rusty Burke and Patrice Louinet
• Bran Mak Morn: The Last King - interior artwork by Gary Gianni
• i - Foreword (Bran Mak Morn: The Last King) - essay by Gary Gianni
• iii - Introduction (Bran Mak Morn: The Last King) - essay by Rusty Burke
• 1 - Men of the Shadows - [Bran Mak Morn] - (1969) - novelette
• 31 - Kings of the Night - [Bran Mak Morn] - (1930) - novelette
• 77 - A Song of the Race - [Bran Mak Morn] - (1969) - poem
• 83 - Worms of the Earth - [Bran Mak Morn] - (1932) - novelette
• 129 - The Dark Man - [Turlogh O'Brien] - (1931) - novelette
• 167 - The Lost Race - [Bran Mak Morn] - (1927) - short story
• 187 - The Drums of Pictdom - (1969) - poem
• 193 - Notes on Miscellanea (Bran Mak Morn: The Last King) - essay by Rusty Burke
• 197 - The Little People - (1970) - short story
• 207 - The Little People--Typescript?
• - short story
• 215 - The Children of the Night - [Cthulhu Mythos Tales] - (1931) - short story
• 233 - Bran Mak Morn - [Bran Mak Morn] - (1983) - short fiction
• 237 - Bran Mak Morn--Manuscript?
• - [Bran Mak Morn] - short story
• 243 - Untitled Synopsis ("The story of a forgotten age...) - [Bran Mak Morn] - (1988) - short fiction (variant of Bran Mak Morn (synopsis))
• 247 - Worms of the Earth--Draft?
• - [Bran Mak Morn] - short story
• 277 - Untitled fragment ("A grey sky arched over...") - [Bran Mak Morn] - (1969) - short story
• 283 - Untitled poem ("There's a bell that hang's...") - poem (variant of The Bell of Morni)

The most beautiful Conan books there is! The first volume was published in 2002, first in the United Kingdom by Wandering Star Books under the title Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933), and the following year in the United States by Ballantine/Del Rey under the present title. The Science Fiction Book Club subsequently reprinted the complete set in hardcover; the set is noted for presenting the original, unedited versions of Howard's Conan tales. This volume includes thirteen short stories as well as miscellanea for Howard fans and enthusiasts (e.g., drafts, notes, maps, etc.), and is illustrated by noted comic book artist Mark Schultz.

The texts for this edition were based on Howard's original typescripts or the first published appearance if a typescript was unavailable.

Table of Contents:

• A1 - Hyborian Genesis: Notes on the Creation of the Conan Stories - essay by Patrice Louinet
• A25 - Notes on the Conan Typescripts and the Chronology (Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-33)) - essay by Patrice Louinet
• A31 - Notes on the Original Howard Texts (Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-33)) - essay by uncredited
• Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-33) - (2002) - interior artwork by Mark Schultz
• i - Foreword (Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-33)) - essay by Mark Schultz
• v - Introduction (Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-33)) - essay by Patrice Louinet
• 1 - Cimmeria - (1965) - poem
• 5 - The Phoenix on the Sword - [Conan] - (1932) - novelette
• 29 - The Frost-Giant's Daughter - [Conan] - (1976) - short story
• 39 - The God in the Bowl - [Conan] - (1952) - short story
• 59 - The Tower of the Elephant - [Conan] - (1933) - novelette
• 83 - The Scarlet Citadel - [Conan] - (1933) - novelette
• 119 - Queen of the Black Coast - [Conan] - (1934) - novelette
• 151 - Black Colossus - [Conan] - (1933) - novelette
• 185 - Iron Shadows in the Moon - [Conan] - (1934) - novelette (variant of Shadows in the Moonlight)
• 217 - Xuthal of the Dusk - [Conan] - (1933) - novelette (variant of The Slithering Shadow)
• 249 - The Pool of the Black One - [Conan] - (1933) - novelette
• 277 - Rogues in the House - [Conan] - (1934) - novelette
• 301 - The Vale of Lost Women - [Conan] - (1967) - short story
• 319 - The Devil in Iron - [Conan] - (1934) - novelette
• 351 - The Phoenix on the Sword (first submitted draft) - novelette
• 375 - Notes on Various Peoples of the Hyborian Age - essay
• 379 - The Hyborian Age - [Conan] - (1938) - short fiction
• 399 - Untitled Synopsis ("A squad of Zamorian soldiers...") - (1974) - short fiction
• 401 - The Scarlet Citadel (synopsis) - short fiction
• 403 - Black Colossus (synopsis) - short fiction
• 405 - Untitled Fragment ("The battlefield stretched silent...") - short fiction
• 407 - Untitled Synopsis ("The setting: The city of Shumballa...") - short fiction
• 409 - Untitled Draft ("Amboola awakened slowly...") - short story
• 417 - Hyborian Names and Countries - essay
• 421 - Hyborian Age Maps - interior artwork

The most beautiful Conan books there is! The second volume was published in 2032, first in the United Kingdom by Wandering Star Books under the title Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933), and the following year in the United States by Ballantine/Del Rey under the title 'The Bloody Crown of Conan'. The Science Fiction Book Club subsequently reprinted the complete set in hardcover; the set is noted for presenting the original, unedited versions of Howard's Conan tales. This volume includes the only Conan novel and three short stories as well as miscellanea for Howard fans and enthusiasts and is illustrated by noted artist Gary Gianni.

The texts for this edition were based on Howard's original typescripts or the first published appearance if a typescript was unavailable.

Table of Contents:

• A1 - Hyborian Genesis Part II: Notes on the Creation of the Conan Stories - essay by Patrice Louinet
• A15 - Notes on the Conan Typescripts and the Chronology (The Bloody Crown of Conan) - essay by Patrice Louinet
• The Bloody Crown of Conan - interior artwork by Gary Gianni
• A17 - Notes on the Original Howard Texts (Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria Volume Two (1934)) - essay by uncredited
• i - Foreword (Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria Volume Two (1934)) - essay by Gary Gianni
• iii - Introduction (Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria Volume Two (1934)) - essay by Rusty Burke
• 1 - The People of the Black Circle - [Conan] - (1934) - novella
• 81 - The Hour of the Dragon - [Conan] - (1977) - novel (variant of Conan the Conqueror: The Hyborean Age 1950)
• 255 - A Witch Shall Be Born - [Conan] - (1934) - novelette
• 305 - The People of the Black Circle (synopsis) - short fiction
• 309 - The Story Thus Far... - (1934) - short fiction
• 311 - Untitled Synopsis ("Amalric a son of a nobleman...") - short fiction
• 315 - Untitled Draft ("Three men squated beside the...") - short story
• 335 - The Hour of the Dragon (synopsis) - short fiction
• 339 - Notes on "The Hour of the Dragon" - essay
• 343 - A Witch Shall Be Born (synopsis) - short fiction

The most beautiful Conan books there is! The third and last volume was published in 2009 by Book Palace Books for Wandering Star, under the title Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Three (1935), and the following year in the United States by Ballantine/Del Rey under the title 'The Bloody Crown of Conan'. The Science Fiction Book Club subsequently reprinted the complete set in hardcover; the set is noted for presenting the original, unedited versions of Howard's Conan tales. This volume includes the only Conan novel and three short stories as well as miscellanea for Howard fans and enthusiasts and is illustrated by noted artist Gregory Manchess.

The texts for this edition were based on Howard's original typescripts or the first published appearance if a typescript was unavailable.

Table of Contents:

• A1 - Hyborian Genesis Part III - (2005) - essay by Patrice Louinet
• A19 - Notes on the Conan Typescripts and the Chronology (The Conquering Sword of Conan) - (2005) - essay by Patrice Louinet
• A21 - Notes on the Original Howard Texts (The Conquering Sword of Conan) - (2005) - essay by uncredited
• Robert E. Howard's Complete Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Three (1935) - interior artwork by Gregory Manchess
• i - Foreword (The Conquering Sword of Conan) - (2005) - essay by Gregory Manchess
• iii - Introduction (The Conquering Sword of Conan) - (2005) - essay by Patrice Louinet
• 1 - The Servants of Bit-Yakin - [Conan] - (2005) - novelette (variant of Jewels of Gwahlur 1935)
• 43 - Beyond the Black River - [Conan] - (1935) - novella
• 101 - The Black Stranger - [Conan] - (1987) - novella
• 175 - The Man-Eaters of Zamboula - [Conan] - (2005) - novelette (variant of Shadows in Zamboula 1935)
• 209 - Red Nails - [Conan] - (1936) - novella
• 285 - Untitled Notes ("The Westermark: located between...") - (2005) - short fiction
• 287 - Wolves Beyond the Border: Draft A - (2005) - short story
• 297 - Wolves Beyond the Border: Draft B - (2005) - short story
• 315 - The Black Stranger (Synopsis A) - (2005) - short fiction
• 317 - The Black Stranger (Synopsis B) - (2005) - short fiction
• 319 - The Man-Eaters of Zamboula (synopsis) - (2005) - short fiction
• 321 - Red Nails (draft) - (2005) - novella
• 359 - Letter to P. Schuyler Miller, March 10, 1936 ("Dear Mr. Miller: / I feel indeed honored...") - (1953) - essay
• 363 - Map of the Hyborian Age - (1976) - interior artwork